Samsung trains female welders

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has trained another set of internationally-certified female welders in Nigeria.

The firm is a major partner in the building of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel for the production of 200, 000 barrels of crude oil per day from the Egina deepwater field.

A beneficiary of the training scheme, Chinonye Okonkwo, told The Nation that the training is highly impactful as she became one of the globally certified welders in the country.

She said through the training, Samsung has brought out the welding skills in her, adding that she has now become a home-grown engineeri in the oil and gas industry, adding that she started in the administration department of Samsung Heavy Industries in Nigeria in 2015, and later moved into technical segment of the firm.

“I spoke to my manager on whether I could become a welder in Korea and he replied in affirmative that I could be trained as a welder in any part of the country. This prompted me to apply for the training in Nigeria. In the beginning, I faced hurdles as many came around to see whether I would succeed or not, but at last, I succeeded in being trained as a welder. According to her, she now trains others in the area of welding, noting that the knowledge she received has helped a lot.

The training, she said, has helped her to contribute her quota to the construction of Egina FPSO, which was partially fabricated in Lagos.

She urged existing and prospective welders to take a cue from the trainees, adding that there is beauty in being trained as a globally certified welder for the oil and gas and other industries.

Samsung, she said, has confidence in Nigerian workers and firms, because they meet their standards.

“Records were broken during construction. This is the first ever project to meet Nigeria’s demanding new standards for “local content”, which in simple terms means Nigerian-owned businesses delivering work in Nigeria. Over 9.7 million hours were spent by the Nigerian workforce, with over 6,000 Nigerians in employment on the project at its peak via Samsung and its partners and sub-contractors,” she added.